Looking down , Johan saw a kobold with the brown skin typical of the plains , staring at him with glowing eyes , waiting for him to fall.
" Too bad , I'm not planning on falling."
Distracted by his skills , the coffin, and the attendants , Johan had not properly mastered the skill of removing poison.
He had dismissed it as unimportant , but now he realized that it could be quite useful.
[ Removing poison ]
grade B
• Allows to extract poison from corpses. Extracted poison can be applied to weapons or body parts. Additionally , resistance to poison is increased.
The removal of the poison was the reason he did not receive the poisoned injection. Although he was not sure how much his resistance had increased , it was enough to ensure that he would not die from the poison.
He pulled out the poisoned needle with a jerk. He shuddered involuntarily when he saw its 20 centimetre length.
" Oh My God ! "
At this size , it looked more like an arrow than a needle. If he had gotten hit by a few more of these , he might have died from the pain rather than the poison.
The kobold , who was certain that Johan would fall , tilted his head in confusion when he did not .
Although its venom was not lethal , its natural paralyzing poison was quite potent. This venom had made it the ruler of the plains. Yet , here was someone who was unaffected by it.
Pew , pew!
In disbelief , he shot more needles until the quiver at his waist was empty. But the needles hit Johan's coffin shield and fell to the ground.
Startled , the creature hesitated and backed away , its trump card useless , and it panicked. Meanwhile , Johan slowly climbed down from the cliff , his mouth watering.
" I was running out of corpses to use as attendants. You came just in time." Sensing Yohan's thoughts , the kobold slid down the cliff , and took up a stance to protect him.
" Not that. Use this , kobada." Yohan gave him an iron axe from his bag. It was lighter and more durable than the stone axe the kobold was using.
" I can't help but see my subordinate using a stone axe." The kobold's blue eyes shone with gratitude , as if they were filled with emotion.
" If you're grateful , give that kobold to me. Go wild." Nodding , the kobold hurled himself at the enemy , his iron axe gleaming with resolve. The second kobold , similar in size , appeared confused as it approached , as if gesturing to communicate. But the kobold remained determined , continuing to strike with the axe.
The enemy kobold roared furiously , engaging in fierce battle. Stone clashed with iron , and the stone axe blade broke with a dull sound , unable to withstand the force of the iron axe used by the now stronger Koba.
' Start with the feet .'
The iron axe cut into the enemy kobold's thigh , exactly where Yohan had mentally aimed.
' Can it read my thoughts ?'
He was unsure. Lower-level Monstars such as Kobolds do not usually exhibit complex battle strategies.
However , if they can share thoughts with Yohan and act accordingly , it will be a tremendous advantage , similar to being an avatar.
The idea of the mummies inheriting Yohan's fighting instincts was tempting. Like them , no kobold would be able to defeat Kobada.
blast!
Kobada ignored the stone axe aimed at his head and aimed at the other leg. With a sharp blow , it cut the vein of the opposite leg. Although his head was slightly damaged , it remained safe.
The enemy kobold , now crippled , fell screaming.
Without hesitation , Koba ripped the enemy's skull apart with a final blow. Dragging the corpse to Yohan , he looked up expectantly , like a dog waiting for praise.
" Good job."
Koba's shining eyes became crescent-shaped , which was clearly a smile. Perhaps he would eventually express all emotions through his eyes.
" Attendant."
[ Brown Kobold]
Rank: E
Karma: 50
A demon that naturally enjoys tormenting enemies. It killed and violated three people and killed many herbivorous animals for sport rather than to survive.
The brown kobold was ranked higher than the common kobold , possibly due to its poisonous needles.
The corpse began to glow , indicating that it was ready for the attendant skills.
" Attendant."
Johan activated the skill without hesitation. As he spoke , the coffin opened on its own , and tentacle-like bars emerged from its bottomless darkness.
The bandages quickly covered the corpse , and pulled it in. It It was a strange sight , as if the culprits were being dragged to hell.
[ Collected by an attendant. Soul Spirit stat increases by 1. ]
Johan's body began to feel the energy from another world. It was still weak , but the unfamiliar sensation was stronger than anything he had felt before.
The coffin opened , and a mummy resembling Koba stepped out , sniffing the air before kneeling before Yohan in submission.
" It seems a little big."
With only two attendants , Johan felt fulfilled. He was satisfied seeing his servants grow in number.
" With two of them , I can probably handle at least ten more."
These creatures acted according to his thoughts. If they were not afraid of death , they could have hunted not just ten , but even twenty.
At the same time , Koba turned his head. He was looking at something at the edge of Johan's vision.
" Do you see anything ?"
I nodded.
Koba's gaze sharpened. Johan felt something approaching.
" Here. Do you think a stone axe will suffice ?"
Yohan gave the new mummy an iron axe. The stone axe she had been using had broken , leaving her with no alternative .
" From now on , you are Shumbha , and you , new , are Nishumbha."
The named mummies were filled with fighting spirit. As Johan armed them , he began to see the approaching figures more clearly.
" One , two , three , four… ten in all. I didn't know about this many."
Ten brown kobolds were heading toward them.
Although he deliberately came to a dangerous area with the Monstars , he did not expect so many.
" Something is wrong. Even if there are a few Monstars left , there are usually no more than three."
It had to be one of two things. Either the hunters clearing this area were incompetent , or these kobolds were smarter than usual.
ki-rik , ki-rik-
They were now close enough to see their faces. Small but strong , they seemed capable of breaking anything.
Surprisingly, they did not attack immediately but spread out in a tactical formation.
" It seems to be the latter. I've never seen such smart kobolds before."
Of course , Johan didn't wait for them to complete their formation.
Shumbha and Nishumbha took advantage of the gap in the spreading formation. Startled , the kobolds were confused.
Shuk-
Nishumbha's iron axe severed a kobold's arm.
The void kobolds attacked with their fangs , but their bites did no damage to the bandages.
thank you , thank you , thank you-
Poisonous needles were attacking from all sides , but they had no effect on the dead people.
' As expected , ordinary kobolds cannot defeat my servants.'
Shumbha was particularly different. It moved with great precision , striking vulnerable points without requiring Yohan's command.
It severed jaws , severed tendons , and struck temples.
In an instant , the three kobolds were neutralised. Shumbh's swift movements were like those of a true warrior.
[ Sevak 'Shumbh' has increased the level. Level 2 -> Level 3]
[ Attendant ' Shumbh ' stats have increased slightly.]
Rising again , Shumbha became even faster , disrupting the enemy formation.
Thank you-
Nisumbha took an axe to the leg. Taking advantage of the opportunity , a kobold attacked from behind , knocking him down.
Thinking it was over , the kobold smiled wickedly.
Crack-
Nishumbh's head turned 180 degrees. A move impossible for living people , wiping the smile off their faces.
Smiling ferally , Nisumbha's mouth opened wide , revealing sharp teeth.
Chomp-
He bit a kobold on the shoulder , tearing off a piece of flesh.
Kick , kick!
The fierce kobold struggled , but Nisumbha did not let go. Instead , he bit deeper , slowly chewing away at the flesh like a praying mantis devouring its prey.
" Wow."
Johan felt he needed to reevaluate his attendants. The oddly protruding mouth was not a typical kobold feature.
" Death and Big Mouth. They might even do magic someday."
The enemy's morale collapsed. Overwhelmed by Shumbha's skill and Nishumbha's terror , the kobolds lost their will to fight , trembled, and even wet themselves.
The rest was easy. The remaining kobolds were killed without any resistance.
K-keek-
The last kobold stumbled backwards. It was the one directing the others , relatively intelligent.
As soon as Shumbh came near , he turned and ran away , no one could resist.
Johan casually collected manastones from the fallen kobolds and pursued them at a leisurely pace. There were no crowds in the open fields ; the kobolds could not escape.
" Heading back to your place of residence , huh ? It could be dangerous."
Kobolds usually lived in groups of 30 to 50. Even after killing ten, 20 to 40 might still survive.
Even though he might have easily defeated ten , facing four times that number was scary. He might have been overwhelmed.
" But it is a great temptation."
Johan hadn't even participated in the battle yet. He had used his lackeys' abilities to wipe out the kobold horde.
" If I fight the coffin , at least I won't die. If that happens , I can go back into the coffin."
If he entered the indestructible coffin , those creatures would be unable to do anything to him.
He was willing to take some risks for the sake of money.
In fact , he was even ready to face life-threatening danger.
" Let's go! You only live once!"
The fleeing kobold was climbing the hill.
Every time the donjin sets off again , the residence changes location , and this time it seemed to be located on top of the hill.
Kirek-kirek!
The crawling creature cried plaintively as it surveyed its surroundings. Apart from that , no one else's presence could be felt.
" Is this his last act of desperation ?"
With a stoic expression , Covan swiftly beheaded the last kobold.
Kovan shook his severed head as if showing off to Yohan.
" No , you didn't have to go so far."
Johan felt nauseous from the extreme loyalty. The shriveled kobold's head was not a pleasant sight
" Put it down. Don't do anything I didn't say."
Shumbh lowered his head in disappointment after being scolded by Yohan.
How could he find this creature cute just because it was wrapped in bandages ?
Clearly , he was looking at it through rose-colored glasses. Just like a porcupine loves its babies.
thud-
At that very moment , a huge presence started approaching them.
It was a presence he hadn't quite felt until now.
Roar!
A deep , growling roar echoed. The source was somewhere up the hill.
" Come down here!"
Yohan immediately called out to Shumbha. The pressure of this presence was much more than what they should have felt here.
Swish-
Shumbh's gaze turned quickly. His eyes slowly moved upwards.
Slice-
Shumbh's head was cut off.
The head leapt into the air , rolled and stopped at Yohan's feet. Shumbha , whose eyes met Yohan's , blinked blankly.
" Why are you here ?"
Johan fixed his gaze on the newly arrived entity.
A demon, taller than Yohan , whose entire body was covered with muscles.
Huff-
His breath , filled with anger , was hot like steam.
Despite having nothing else in common , its wrinkled skin gave away its identity.
" King Kobold. The Kobald King "
The King of the Kobolds , who had never appeared in this donjin before , growled softly, asserting his presence.